Comments Rating Misshaps

[aaa1234]

Good day!

I have recently been attempting to customize my oun comments rating system, but as expected from a novice, I am having some issues.

First to explain what exactly I want to do:

A rather simplified comments rating system(plugin), with the usuall tables and everything

I would like for it to have 3 states of "love and hate" at the beginning - names aren't important,, but I would like for them to be decided based on average vote for the comment at hand. E.g the comment has 5 ratings so far, they are summed up, devided by their count and based on it the comment is marked Good or Average or whatever - I am having trouble with this part too, how should I proceed?

I would also like to, wind each state (Average, good) in some CSS(was not sure where I should have posted the thred. In the end I thought that PHP is a little bit more related)E.g If the comment is Good then it gets an orange frame and white background. If its bad it is to gray/fade away. I am really having trouble with that CSS part - have no idea how to do it. (Should I make a different topic on this in the CSS section?)

I also need for there to be a placeholder for the top comments, as I need some more thought on where to display them on my site.

I will give details on every aspect you need to know to help me, just say so.

Here is my script so far (Folder with icons and images is uneeded I think)

If you could tell me where I go wrong and how to do things, I would be very grateful!

Thanks in advance!

[CoderDan]

I took a look at your code, didn't really get too far past the "what is this '__($a,$b)' function all about stage, however.

Also you have a lot of questions here, some fairly vague, while I'm sure myself or someone here could answer them all, it might help if you are a little more specific and perhaps compartmentalize your problem spots, ie, take it one issue at a time.

[aaa1234]

CoderDan;10917168 wrote:

I took a look at your code, didn't really get too far past the "what is this '__($a,$b)' function all about stage, however.

Also you have a lot of questions here, some fairly vague, while I'm sure myself or someone here could answer them all, it might help if you are a little more specific and perhaps compartmentalize your problem spots, ie, take it one issue at a time.

Thank you, I will try to be as descriptive as possible.

1)[Details]
As you know, in most comments rating system there are 2 actions a user can choose from. Vote up or Vote down. And with them - a few statuses a given comment can receive from Voting up, or down on it.

I would like to bring in only 3 statuses. Good, Bad and Average

• I want for these statuses to be given based on the average vote score and only after 5 votes have been passed on to the comment.
• I want for each status to be wrappped in some CSS (Don't know if CSS is a good choice here). E.g: Comment status = Bad => comment table gets a gray frame and a lower opacy. Comment status = Good => comment table gets an orange frame.

I want a function that sets away the top voted comments (comments loop based) and lists them somewhere (I have yet to decide where)

THe CSS wrapping just needs to wrap each comment displayed in the comment loop in a div with a class set by the comment's score, the easy way to add it would be to create a get_the_comment_score function for use in the comments loop.

Hav no idea on how to write this though
I think these are all the aspects I seem to have trouble with.

Thanks once again

[CoderDan]

I basically understand what you want, but i meant more specifics on where you are stuck.
I mean, sure, I could write such a system, but this is a forum for solving problems, not requesting custom code snippets 🙂

[aaa1234]

CoderDan;10917181 wrote:

I basically understand what you want, but i meant more specifics on where you are stuck.
I mean, sure, I could write such a system, but this is a forum for solving problems, not requesting custom code snippets 🙂

Oh, sorry about that. Here is the clarified clarified ^;

I think there won't be any need to modify the script that appends the comments rating button and the current rating to the comment?

I also think I should use this to Print the 10 top rated comments as UL?I am not too sure though - any better ideas?

function topc_highest_rated($num = 10) {
	$top_rated = (array) get_option('topc-top-rated');

if ( $num < count($top_rated) )
	$top_rated = array_slice($top_rated, 0, $num);

echo "<ul class='topc-comments'>\n";
foreach ( $top_rated as $row )
	echo "\t<li>".stripslashes($row)."</li>\n";

echo "</ul>\n";
}

I plan on leaving this intact for my purposes as well? Its for preparing the top rated comments.

function topc_make_highest_rated() {
	global $wpdb;

$limit = 10; // how many to include
$length = 75; // character lenght of the comment excerpt
$chars_per_word = 25; // max chars per word, will force-wrap longer words so they stay whitin the width of the sidebar

$comments = $wpdb->get_results( $wpdb->prepare("SELECT * FROM $wpdb->comments WHERE comment_approved = '1' ORDER BY comment_karma DESC LIMIT %d", $limit) );

if ( ! $comments ) return;

$top_rated = array();
foreach ($comments as $comment) {
	$author = $comment->comment_author;
	$author = wordwrap($author, $chars_per_word, ' ', true);

	$text = $comment->comment_content;
	$text = strip_tags(wptexturize($text));
	if ( strlen($text) > $length ) {
		$text = substr( $text, 0, $length );
		$text = substr( $text, 0, strrpos($text, ' ') );
		$text .= "…";
	}
	$text = wordwrap($text, $chars_per_word, ' ', true);
	$text = preg_replace('/\s+/', ' ', $text); // spaces into 1

	$row = __('Score: ', 'topc') . $comment->comment_karma . ', <a href="'. get_permalink($comment->comment_post_ID) . '#comment-' . $comment->comment_ID . '">' . $author . ', ' . get_the_title($comment->comment_post_ID) . ':</a> ' . $text;

	$top_rated[] = $wpdb->escape($row);
}

update_option( 'topc-top-rated', $top_rated );
update_option( 'topc-top-rated-last', $comment->comment_karma );

function topc_timelimit($m) {
	global $topc_display_opt;

if ( ! isset($topc_display_opt) )
	$topc_display_opt = (array) get_option('topc_display');

if ( ! isset($topc_display_opt['timelimit']) || ! $topc_display_opt['timelimit'] )
	return true;

$i = mktime(
	(int) substr( $m, 11, 2 ), (int) substr( $m, 14, 2 ), (int) substr( $m, 17, 2 ),
	(int) substr( $m, 5, 2 ), (int) substr( $m, 8, 2 ), (int) substr( $m, 0, 4 )
);

if ( (time() - $topc_display_opt['timelimit']) < $i )
	return true;

return false;

}

I recon this has something to do with the ammount of comments that I want to be present untill a status is set for the comment? If not, could you please direct me?

if ( !$number = (int) $options['number'] )
		$number = 5;
	else if ( $number < 1 )
		$number = 1;
	else if ( $number > 10 )
		$number = 10;

I am really at sea with the CSS though, although it sounds simple enough...If you would just give me a model script or atleast a small lead, I will be very very thankful

Thanks again!

[CoderDan]

I'm still a little at sea - as I intimated in my first post - there's functions called that you haven't shown the source code for: get_option($a), __($a,$b), etc, not sure how many in all.
without knowing what they're doing I cant really help you, as I don't know what's going on.

[aaa1234]

CoderDan;10917200 wrote:

I'm still a little at sea - as I intimated in my first post - there's functions called that you haven't shown the source code for: get_option($a), __($a,$b), etc, not sure how many in all.
without knowing what they're doing I cant really help you, as I don't know what's going on.

Its generally a plugin, so...

Hmm, the file is txt, so something might have gotten chopped off when i converted it. Here, I will upload the php.

Will check it out and write you back

[CoderDan]

If you're using a plugin you might want to talk to the plugin's creator - I cant speak for everyone here, but personally I despise plugins 😛

[aaa1234]

CoderDan;10917213 wrote:

If you're using a plugin you might want to talk to the plugin's creator - I cant speak for everyone here, but personally I despise plugins 😛

Then, can you help me/direct me on how to do it better, because I am not very fond of plugins myself and find this very tiring... Any help is appreciated!

Am also done with the CSS, but I was wondering if it could also be done with just one function in the comments loop?

while($statement){
echo '<div id="commentWrapper" class=*Depending on the class*"'.$rating.'">';
echo 'whatever...';
echo '</div>';
}

Then in CSS:

#commentWrapper .good {
background-color: #??????;
}

#commentWrapper .neutral {
background-color: #??????;
}

#commentWrapper .bad {
background-color: #??????;
}

[CoderDan]

The css code looks good as it stands.

As for helping you to write it from scratch, well, that is better, but you need to approach it from the ground up:
1) what is the existing code this is going to be added to
2) what exactly do you want to achieve, as simple as possible.
3) how would this ideally be seen by the end user
4) figure out what components are needed to create this result
5) is it possible to use less components to achieve this result
6) put it together in pseudocode
7) then we start with the php 😛

[aaa1234]

CoderDan;10917232 wrote:

The css code looks good as it stands.

As for helping you to write it from scratch, well, that is better, but you need to approach it from the ground up:
1) what is the existing code this is going to be added to
2) what exactly do you want to achieve, as simple as possible.
3) how would this ideally be seen by the end user
4) figure out what components are needed to create this result
5) is it possible to use less components to achieve this result
6) put it together in pseudocode
7) then we start with the php 😛

Firts of all, I just want you to know you have my deepest thanks. ^_

First of all I think the thing to do is just get something basic going which can be enhanced as we go

1) Don't know how to answer this. Sorry, could you bring some more light on this?
2)A simple comments rating system.With 3 possible statuses.
- I want for these statuses to be given based on the average vote score and only after 5 votes have been passed on to the comment. For the CSS - to be done with just one function in the comments loop, if possible.
3) 2 simple vote up and down buttons. Comments status (Good bad etc.) And alternatively the top comments.
4) A script that appends the comments rating button and the current rating to the comment. One revolving around the whole comments loop thing.One that sortso out the top comments and lists them somewhere. As I said, lets start with something simple taht works and build on that, if you agree.
5) I am sure it can, ut I see no alternative here... if you do, please tell
7) When you're ready

[CoderDan]

aaa1234;10917236 wrote:

Firts of all, I just want you to know you have my deepest thanks. ^_

First of all I think the thing to do is just get something basic going which can be enhanced as we go

1) Don't know how to answer this. Sorry, could you bring some more light on this?

Well, you infer there is an existing comments system that you want to add ratings to... so this would be the actual comments system

aaa1234;10917236 wrote:

2)A simple comments rating system.With 3 possible statuses.
- I want for these statuses to be given based on the average vote score and only after 5 votes have been passed on to the comment. For the CSS - to be done with just one function in the comments loop, if possible.
3) 2 simple vote up and down buttons. Comments status (Good bad etc.) And alternatively the top comments.
4) A script that appends the comments rating button and the current rating to the comment. One revolving around the whole comments loop thing.One that sortso out the top comments and lists them somewhere. As I said, lets start with something simple taht works and build on that, if you agree.
5) I am sure it can, ut I see no alternative here... if you do, please tell
7) When you're ready

as for the rest, difficult without the base, but:

2) a comment rating system
3) the user will see comments sorted by popularity, and with a visual display of the popularity, and 2 buttons, to either rate up or rate down a comment
4) need a table to store ratings that links to the existing comments and users, and basically the following systems:
a) identify the user
b) check if the user has already rated
c) submit a rating
d) store a rating
e) organize results by rating
5) seems to be the minimum set of components already.
6) more of a practice for you to ensure you know what you want to do
7) really difficult without knowing (1) (specifically the data structures of comments and users, and how they are currently displayed)

[aaa1234]

CoderDan;10917238 wrote:

Well, you infer there is an existing comments system that you want to add ratings to... so this would be the actual comments system

as for the rest, difficult without the base, but:

2) a comment rating system
3) the user will see comments sorted by popularity, and with a visual display of the popularity, and 2 buttons, to either rate up or rate down a comment
4) need a table to store ratings that links to the existing comments and users, and basically the following systems:
a) identify the user
b) check if the user has already rated
c) submit a rating
d) store a rating
e) organize results by rating
5) seems to be the minimum set of components already.
6) more of a practice for you to ensure you know what you want to do
7) really difficult without knowing (1) (specifically the data structures of comments and users, and how they are currently displayed)

Oh sure it does. But which part do you precisely want to see, because its very long. (Also, under what functions should I search for those mentioned above?)

3,e) No, I want for the commets to be displayed chronologically and seperately to have a list of top commenters.

Otherwise, you've got my idea precisely!

[CoderDan]

the part that gets the comments, the part that gets the user, and the part that displays teh comments (and the table structures of comments and users)

[aaa1234]

CoderDan;10917252 wrote:

the part that gets the comments, the part that gets the user, and the part that displays teh comments (and the table structures of comments and users)

Sorry for not replying, I wes busy up untill just now. Hope you've subscribed for this thread

Would you like join an IRC channel or something not to flood the forums? It would be easyer to explain too

[CoderDan]

I mostly hit this from work, no IRC, besides, the idea i think is that others might be trying to do similar things can read through a thread like this one and perhaps get something out of it to help them solve their own issues.

[aaa1234]

CoderDan;10917379 wrote:

I mostly hit this from work, no IRC, besides, the idea i think is that others might be trying to do similar things can read through a thread like this one and perhaps get something out of it to help them solve their own issues.

I see. Good then. I believe what we want to see is this:

There are no users, however. Verybody is an anon, if they don't write a nickname and upload a Gravatar. - no logon user system.

function &get_comment(&$comment, $output = OBJECT) {
	global $wpdb;

if ( empty($comment) ) {
	if ( isset($GLOBALS['comment']) )
		$_comment = & $GLOBALS['comment'];
	else
		$_comment = null;
} elseif ( is_object($comment) ) {
	wp_cache_add($comment->comment_ID, $comment, 'comment');
	$_comment = $comment;
} else {
	if ( isset($GLOBALS['comment']) && ($GLOBALS['comment']->comment_ID == $comment) ) {
		$_comment = & $GLOBALS['comment'];
	} elseif ( ! $_comment = wp_cache_get($comment, 'comment') ) {
		$_comment = $wpdb->get_row($wpdb->prepare("SELECT * FROM $wpdb->comments WHERE comment_ID = %d LIMIT 1", $comment));
		wp_cache_add($_comment->comment_ID, $_comment, 'comment');
	}
}

$_comment = apply_filters('get_comment', $_comment);

if ( $output == OBJECT ) {
	return $_comment;
} elseif ( $output == ARRAY_A ) {
	$__comment = get_object_vars($_comment);
	return $__comment;
} elseif ( $output == ARRAY_N ) {
	$__comment = array_values(get_object_vars($_comment));
	return $__comment;
} else {
	return $_comment;
}
}

/**
 * Retrieve a list of comments.
 *
 * The list of comment arguments are 'status', 'orderby', 'comment_date_gmt',
 * 'order', 'number', 'offset', and 'post_id'.
 *
 * @since 2.7.0
 * @uses $wpdb
 *
 * @param mixed $args Optional. Array or string of options to override defaults.
 * @return array List of comments.
 */
function get_comments( $args = '' ) {
	global $wpdb;

$defaults = array('status' => '', 'orderby' => 'comment_date_gmt', 'order' => 'DESC', 'number' => '', 'offset' => '', 'post_id' => 0);

$args = wp_parse_args( $args, $defaults );
extract( $args, EXTR_SKIP );

// $args can be whatever, only use the args defined in defaults to compute the key
$key = md5( serialize( compact(array_keys($defaults)) )  );
$last_changed = wp_cache_get('last_changed', 'comment');
if ( !$last_changed ) {
	$last_changed = time();
	wp_cache_set('last_changed', $last_changed, 'comment');
}
$cache_key = "get_comments:$key:$last_changed";

if ( $cache = wp_cache_get( $cache_key, 'comment' ) ) {
	return $cache;
}

$post_id = absint($post_id);

if ( 'hold' == $status )
	$approved = "comment_approved = '0'";
elseif ( 'approve' == $status )
	$approved = "comment_approved = '1'";
elseif ( 'spam' == $status )
	$approved = "comment_approved = 'spam'";
else
	$approved = "( comment_approved = '0' OR comment_approved = '1' )";

$order = ( 'ASC' == $order ) ? 'ASC' : 'DESC';

$orderby = 'comment_date_gmt';  // Hard code for now

$number = absint($number);
$offset = absint($offset);

if ( !empty($number) ) {
	if ( $offset )
		$number = 'LIMIT ' . $offset . ',' . $number;
	else
		$number = 'LIMIT ' . $number;

} else {
	$number = '';
}

if ( ! empty($post_id) )
	$post_where = $wpdb->prepare( 'comment_post_ID = %d AND', $post_id );
else
	$post_where = '';

$comments = $wpdb->get_results( "SELECT * FROM $wpdb->comments WHERE $post_where $approved ORDER BY $orderby $order $number" );
wp_cache_add( $cache_key, $comments, 'comment' );

return $comments;
}

and this

http://meidell.dk/threadedcomments/

Something else?

[CoderDan]

if there are no users, how do you ensure someone doesn't vote multiple times?

[aaa1234]

CoderDan;10917404 wrote:

if there are no users, how do you ensure someone doesn't vote multiple times?

I use the WP Hashcash and a number of other protections. No need to worry about that. I might implement users soon, however after this one a several other changes are ddone with

[CoderDan]

ok, so you have a string or integer to identify a user, right? if so, which is it? (we prefer integers 😛)